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Participants:

Date:

7/18/2011

Location:

A bar. Somewhere.

Synopsis:

Cheating people out of money! Does it get any better then that?

Rating:

PG-16 for suggested violent treatment, and innuendo.

Logger:

Maura

Arrive separately, and give Chrii time to work the room first. Any sign of trouble she wont even show up. That was the idea when he proposed they try to earn a little extra in the way of marks so that theyd have bribe money available; Miene might be stubborn enough not to give Maura any names, and then theyd have to go asking questions of others. Best to be prepared, right?

So after at least a full candlemark, its Rikath that gets the placement from Zekoith and then appears from ::between:: to circle in for a landing and drop off his charge. She takes her sweet time too, unused to the heeled boots she was *assured* would be perfect for the clingy dark brown velour-ish fabric thats supposed to make up her dress. Sultry, they told her. Ridiculous, Rikath thought. He especially didnt like all that extra effort she put into her hair and makeup. Which probably meant she did a decent job of it. Thus, perversely reassured, she steps into the crowded but decently lit establishment with a faint clicking noise against the wooden floor. Without pausing, she heads for the bar and takes in her surroundings while on the way, trying to pick out Rii from the crowd and find the table shes supposed to eventually make her way to.

Ridiculous was kind of the idea as far as Ch'rii was concerned; the sort of salaciously attractive to most men that actually is, on top of that, somewhat absurd. And where is Ch'rii? Sitting at a table surrounded by laughing rich people playing cards, drinking something alcoholic that, for once, does not have steam on it, and keeping a chair clear next to him. "So where's your date?" one of the card players is asking; Ch'rii rolls his shoulders back and says, "Eh. Late. She's no big deal, just a nice piece —" « He is saying that as an act, » Zekoith relays, just in case of potential hurt feelings.

« Mmhmm. » Rikath just rolls that answer back through the link, far too engrossed in his mental sentry duty to kep tabs of -everything- going on around them. He's been shockingly overprotective, of course. « She knows. » he adds, finally. She did finally spot Ch'rii too, winding her way through the crowd with a drink in hand until she stops at the right table and slips right into the seat that was left empty for her. "Is that right, darling?" she drawls, obviously having heard his comment. "I could have sworn you were saying much differently last night. When you were able to talk." This, of course, si followed by the flash of a charmingly predatory smile when she glances around the table. "Well hello, gentlemen. Enjoying your game, I hope?"

A couple of the card players choke at Maura's interruption; Ch'rii, on the other hand, grins as he kicks her chair out for her. "She's got quite a mouth on her," he drawls, "in any way you want to construe that. Been beating the pants off 'em all," he adds. The accent is not his normal one. He either hasn't noticed this or is doing it on purpose. "Want a drink? Bet someone'll buy you one." Playing the misogynistic jerk was, after all, part of the plan; she just has to be a distracting presence. A couple of the younger ones already look more interested in stealing Maura away from cad Ch'rii than their cards.

"I sure do, sweetheart." If Maura minds being spoken about in such a way, it's certainly not evident in her expression. She'll even ignore how well he's doing at the game and head right for the idea of a drink. "That right? What do you say, boys. Somene willing to keep me entertained and buy me a drink? I even bet you'll be better company then he is right now." It's the younger ones she directs that comment to, leaning over to deliver the words in a low tone. And, of course, put on a show. And if there's a bit of a hurt look on her face, it's only to help draw them in. The poor, pretty girl that Ch'rii is mean to.

Which works. Very well. Maura ends up with quite a /few/ drinks as the game progresses, and Ch'rii wins yet another hand of poker. It's entirely unclear as to how he's doing it, too — no one seems to gain any indication that he's cheating. "Think I've had enough?" he asks the amply-plied-with-drinks Maura, who is also the total center of attention of three of the five men. (The other two are glaring at the cards.) "We could buy a small stakehold with these winnings." Called on his exaggeration by another player, Ch'rii only shrugs. "Okay. Half."

Laughing at stupid jokes, smiling, flirting, and displaying one's 'assets' to best advantage is not as easy as it sounds; especially after the third drink. So hopefully both Zekoith and Rii will amply understand the relief that Rikath ripples through for the suggestion that he's won enough hands of poker to satisfy their need for marks. "Well, will you look at that. I think maybe you have had enough. Shouldn't let that luck turn around." Thankfully, she is not slurring her words. Boy howdy does she ever feel a buzz though. And pretending to be totaly sloshed as opposed to nicely buzzed? Even beter. "I /am/ going to need help gettin up though. See all the drinks these fine men bought me? I do hope you plan on making it up to me that you've paid me no attention at all." The drink she's finishing up now was from the youngest of the group and so he is the recipient of the wink she gives when the glass is set down.

"You've gotten /plenty/ of attention, have you not?" Ch'rii asks with a light, dismissive gesture of his hand. "From an army of young men. That's not what I'm concerned about, doll," as he puts the smarmy drunkard gambling addict who uses women act on /even harder/, "so much as I'm concerned you'd rather pay /them/ attention than /me/." At that he makes a big show of grabbing Maura's arm and dragging her out of the chair and away from the table. Really, he's barely touching her, but it's a well-coordinated act.

"I'd say it serves you right for sayin' I'm just a nice piece of ass." Maura replies, casting a bit of a sideways glare at her increasingly belligerent date. Of course, the glance is so that she can tell when the arm grab is coming and plays her part to the hilt - complete with fake stumble and angry whine about hurting her arm. It even makes one especially naive new gambler start to rise from his seat before one of the older ones sits him back down with a 'seriously kid, ain't none of your business' with hands kept on his shoulders to keep him in place. They at least manage to make it outside with the door slamming behind them without an 'incident', much to her relief. ANother bloody fight would seriously not make her day right now. "Yeah let's get out of here before some hero decides he wants to save the girl, eh?" she whispers.

Ch'rii laughs, low under his breath. "I do like my eyes intact and Zekoith would rather I did not rip off anyone's limbs even if Rikath had previously advocated it — shame we didn't meet those louts," he adds. "I would have definitely given /them/ reason to incite a fight. Have fun?" he transitions to lighter speech as he stops pretending to manhandle her and offers a polite arm instead. "I think we'll do quite well for ourselves."

"If we'd met those louts, you might have had to spend your time holding me back. I owe them a few injuries." Rikath would still advocate limb-ripping of course, evident in the menacing rumble he starts in on. "Oh, I had plenty of fun making them choke on their drinks." she admits, a smile reminiscent of suppressed laughter appearing on her face. "The rest of the time I felt like a complete idiot. I can't believe how many men fall for that routine." Her eyeroll accompanies taking the offered arm, though paranoia has her glancing back over her shoulder until they're well out of sight anyway. "Where are we counting, then? Your place or mine?" Yes, yes, she knows how that sounds. And she says it anyway, complete with a look through lowered lashes.

"Hm." There's a long silence, as Ch'rii considers this. His answer is perhaps unsurprising: "Yours might be better. People expect me to steal things all the time, but not you; no one who saw would ever suspect. Not that people are often in my weyr, but it's always worth consideration. No, Zekoith, you are /not/ going to tell all the golds, would you /stop/ that for a /minute/? Someday you will have more children. I promise. "

"Good point." Maura concedes. "Nobody would go rifling through my things either, if they want to keep their limbs intact. I m…." Oh yeah, her voice cuts off at the brief spate of one-sided argument that she's hearing. "Tell all the golds what? How did Zekoith and… what, is he complaining he hasn't won enough gold flights or something? How'd that come up?" Even Rikath, in all his sly glory, is having a hard time with this one. « What /are/ you two arguing about? »

Ch'rii laughs. Again. Like he always does about this. "About our successful defeat over cads, or something like that, because he's trying to impress the ladies, yes." A light shrug, a roll of the shoulder, "I haven't got a clue really." Zekoith's response is simpler: « He will not let me brag. »

« You need permission to do that? » Rikath snorts. « It's easier ask forgiveness then permission. » he points out, merrily not helping Rii's case at all. "I.. see." Maura tries her best not to laugh at the semi-predicament. "Zekoith obviously hasn't changed a bit then. So, anyway. Since we apparently made ourselves a nice sum, we're putting some of it aside and when the dust settles, we're going to take an evening and go somewhere /nice/." The unspoken implication is obviously that they wil be going together there, yes. "You can't tell me we'll need all that money for bribes." As always, when Maura does something impulsive that Rikath is not expecting, he sighs and thunks his muzzle against the ground in dismay.

"Hah!" says Ch'rii, and now he looks even more smug, and pats his pockets. "No. We /absolutely/ do not — there is a lot more in here than you can even /imagine/, sweetheart. Sure, we can go on vacation. We can also buy out a good bit of the Weyr if we wanted. I wonder if I can bribe my way to wingleader."

"No way. You won that much? Just how much did you steal anyway?" Ok, now Maura is going to near drag him to where their dragons await. Because she *has* to see this haul. "And now why would you want all that responsibility when we can just keep taking vacations?" she jokes, a wry smile forming. "Also, I have a very good imagination thank you."

Ch'rii holds up his hands. Okay, okay. And then he pulls out: a designer-style pocketwatch, three fancy earrings (maybe the lady wearing them still has the fourth one?), a stylish quill, a huge pile of bracelets, a leather wallet, a chain that doesn't attach anything to anything at all but is made of valuable metal, several other wads of money that did not come from the poker game, and a ring with a /giant/ stone on it. All from his coat and pants pockets. Come to think of it those pants do have a /lot/ of pockets.

Maura watches the first few items dragged out, and then as more and more and MORE things are added to the pile her eyes widen. Until, finally, she can't contain herself anymore and bursts out laughing. "That's… I… I have no words." she decides, having to wheeze for air for a moment there from laughing so hard. "You… I only gave you an *hour*!" RIfling through the items she quirks a brow at the three earrings, looks at the pile of bracelets, and tilts her head at the quill. Who carries around a quill? "I haven't laughed like that in /ages/. I am not even going to ask." Nope, instead of asking she instead just reaches over to try and wrap her arms up around his neck and deliver a rather unplanned and unrehearsed kiss.

And he's not going to argue. Nope: this is Ch'rii surprised but going with it! He doesn't take it too far, not attempting to make the kiss any /deeper/, but he does support the small of her back without issue or argument, which may just as well be considered agreement. Once he has a chance to breathe, he doesn't actually step back to talk: "I just went for a walk," softly, innocently. "Through the crowd. Those things /stuck/ to me!"

At least with neither stepping back, any of their poker pals stumbling across them is going to think anything is amiss! It does make for an interestingly hushed conversation though, given that Maura seems awfully tempted to try that again. But, you know, doesn't. Yet. "Mmmm. I'll bet they did. I think you might need to come up with a better alibi then that." is suggested, mildy, without any belief at all towards innocence. "We should probably go back. Now. Shouldn't we."

"It might be a good idea to not be caught up to," Ch'rii agrees. He is entirely chill about this kissing thing — as if it happens every day. "But it is true. I did just walk through the crowd once." Does she doubt him? How dare she. Items stick to him all the time.

"I have no doubt you only walked through the crowd once." Maura clarifies, automatically of course. "I doubt that items randomly stuck themselves to you with no effort of your own involved." Oh yes, she does indeed doubt that. His agreement that they shouldn't allow themselves to be caught up to has her again on auto-pilot to hand him back all of the stolen goods, so he can fit them into the various and sundry pockets he apparently has. "Let's go then. I admit that I am absolutely dying to get thee stupid boots off too. The heels are /killing/ me." At which point Rikath gives her an impatient look. "Shut it, grumpy." She points right at the blue chidingly before turning to make the climb.

All of the stuff having made it back into Ch'rii's various pockets, none of which seem large enough to actually /hold/ these items, he too moves to mount up Zekoith. "Oh, well, it's not /much/ effort, but it is a honed talent. I'm just a magnet for valuables." Cheeky grin. Dragon snort.

Maura just shakes her head again as items disappear into pockets. "One of these days, you're going to have to show me how you do that." she decides, thought it might just be unheard since she has such a short climb, relatively speaking. « A magnet. *snort* Yeah, that was from /both/ of us. » Rikath relays, juuuust before they lift off and up and then disappear.